First Day
by love.always.forever.1335
Summary: Elaboration on the day the turtles and Splinter were mutated.


Hamato Yoshi walked the streets of New York City by himself. His hands shoved into his pockets staring at his feet as he took each step. New to America, he still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Tang-Shen and only daughter, Miwa. It was only mere weeks since they had both been brutally taken from him. And to make his misery worse, he not only lost his family, but he lost all of his honor and pride. He had no choice but to leave Japan, the country in which he was born and raised. He fled to New York, where no one knew of his past. No one knew of his shame. And no one really cared.

He looked up from the sidewalk for just a second to glimpse at the pet shop he was passing at the moment. A single sign caught his eye as he glanced. The sign read "Turtles 4 Sale." His hand brushed around in his pocket, checking to make sure he had money before he went into the store. When he felt the crumpled dollar bills in his pocket, he made his way off the busy street and into the store. Without hesitation, he made his way over to the tank containing about a dozen baby turtles. He looked around the tank for a price on the turtles, and soon he found a sticker on the bottom of the tank that showed the price. Each turtle was $15.99. He pulled out his money and counted it up. He had a fifty and two ten dollar bills, along with some change. He mentally computed that he could purchase four turtles and still have enough to cover the 8.5% sales tax of New York City. He smiled as he looked at all the turtles; picking which ones he liked the most.

After five minutes of looking, he was confronted by one of the employees in the store. "Can I help you, sir?" She asked, noticing his interest in the turtles.

"Yes, actually. I would like to purchase four of these little turtles." He said, paying her little attention as his eyes were glued to the aquarium.

"Okay. Great!" She smiled excitedly, probably more enthusiastic about the purchase than he was, "Any four in particular you wanted?" She asked, getting him a small dish for him to take them home in from below the tank.

He took one more look over the turtles. They all looked so similar, but four specific ones stood out to him. There was one very close to the edge of the aquarium, looking out at him and the rest of the store. He looked curious. Yoshi smiled and selected that one. He then saw another fighting for food, and winning. He seemed very possessive and greedy. He selected that one as well. As he looked to the back of the aquarium, he saw one standing quietly by itself, taking in all of his surroundings. He was observant and patient. And another of the small turtles was quite hard to miss as he rolled around the tank, getting stuck on the back of his shell. Yoshi silently laughed at the poor struggling turtle and selected them both.

The girl picked them all up and set them carefully in the container with some dirt at the bottom. She tried to talk him into buying an aquarium and other accessories for the turtles, but he refused and walked up to the cash register. He paid for them and started the walk back to his home.

As he walked, he was trying to come up with names for the young turtles. He looked down at them watching their every move, now in a much better mood than he was before he had these pets. While he was walking, a man in a suit bumped into him. Usually he would just ignore it. He had lived in New York City for a while now, and he had a mild understanding of the rudeness of some people. But something about this man did not feel right. He thought for moment, tilting his head to look down at the turtles, which were all looking up at him curiously. He swiftly turned around and locked his eyes on the man with the suit, following him as he walked down the street. When the man turned into a small alley way, Hamato Yoshi decided to stay out on the main street. He got his ear as close to the alley as he could, listening in on what he and another man, who looked exactly like him, were talking about. In an attempt to get a little closer to the conversation, he took another step toward the alley. In the process, he stepped on a rat that happened to be rummaging through the nearby garage. The rat's squeak echoed as it ran from the alley, revealing the presence of Hamato Yoshi.

"Go no further. This place is a place where you are not allowed to be in this place. We have been seen in this place by you, so this is not a place that will be left by you." The man said mechanically, creeping in on Yoshi. Two other identical men came in behind him.

Before he had time to question their relation, Hamato Yoshi became defensive. He held tightly to the container of turtles and used his ninja mastery to free himself from the circle he had been forced into. He paid very close attention to the turtles while he attacked the strange men, making sure they were not moving around in or falling out of the container.

During his battle, he managed to knock a canister of bright blue ooze out of one of the men's hands, spilling its contents all over himself and his new pet turtles. It burned him; he screamed out in pain as his clothing tore right off of his now fur covered body. He felt long tail growing out of his lower back. Collapsing to the ground, he didn't notice that a similar mutation was occurring with his new pets. They stood on two feet and had a physique similar to a human, only retaining their shells and green colored skin. Each gaining a sense of self, reviewing their world over for the first time. They looked at each other, then at the rat collapsed on the sidewalk.

They stumbled over to him, adjusting to their new two-legged bodies, and watched him. Yoshi recognized their presence quickly and turned to face them. Two of them had sustained slight defects when they fell from the container during the mutagen accident. One losing a tooth and the other obtaining a crack in his plastron. Though, their mutation appeared much less painful than his own. He collected them around him. They all looked so confused.

He managed to find the lid to a metal trashcan where he could look at his reflection. He was appalled; covered in fur from head to toe, or paw. He had whiskers and ears that stood on end at even the quietest of sounds. He felt hideous as he looked over his new form, retaining his human stature with the new rodent aspects.

Remembering that he could easily be seen, he took a peek out to the busy streets. People paid little attention as they passed the alley way, too busy on their cell phones and other devices to look up at the street ahead, let alone the occurrences of a dark alley. As were the traditional values of people that call New York City their home.

Hamato Yoshi was still too concerned with being seen. He quickly snatched the turtles and made his way down an open manhole. In the sewers, they would be safe from the dangerous and judgmental world above. He released them when they reached the bottom, letting them explore, soon realizing that he had become their sole parental figure. The young turtles followed him everywhere. They did not seem bothered by his mutated form.

He realized that it was his responsibility to raise these young turtles as his own. He led them to an abandoned subway station where they would continue to live for quite some time. It was his plan to teach them everything he knew about self-defense, training them in the ancient art of ninjutsu, while also teaching them more traditional things, such as talking and basic schooling.

Not long after he realized his responsibility, he recalled that he had yet to name them all. He was in search of naming inspiration when he stumbled upon an old book on Renaissance Italy. Flipping through it, he spotted the names of four of, arguably the most famous, painters from the Renaissance era. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

He looked over the boys, playing in the middle of the floor. He distributed the names randomly, giving them off as he looked at each turtle. Leonardo became the serene and calm turtle. Donatello was given to the most curious of all the turtles. Raphael was the violent son. And Michelangelo was the goofball of the group. They crowded around Yoshi and each found a place on him to rest, soon drifting into a much needed rest.

Yoshi looked down on each of them lovingly, feeling a strong attachment between them all forming. He became their father and they became his sons.


End file.
